`Reunification' Of Abused Children And Abusers Cruel, Unconscionable

February 11, 1997

Somebody somewhere sometime ought to have enough common sense to say that the behavior of vicious sociopaths will not be improved significantly by "parenting classes."Nor by "counseling."Nor by the simple passage of time during which "supervised visits" with a child take place.

When it has been established that vicious sociopaths are just that, perhaps Florida legislators will move to protect helpless children who are born into lives of pain and terror that can end in horrible deaths at the hands of their biological parents.

Until then, defenseless babies and children will continue to be "reunited" with individuals who should not, as one veteran of the HRS wars puts it, be given custody of a cockroach.

In the latest instance of an absurd "reunification," a court-appointed guardian is trying to terminate the parental rights of a couple accused of abusing their 2-year-old son. The child, who spent much of his life in foster care, was reunited with his family less than two weeks ago. He was hospitalized eight days later with extensive beating injuries and burns.

The guardian, who had earlier warned the toddler would not be safe if returned to his parents, filed the request in Hillsborough Circuit Court. But Circuit Judge Gregory Holder reunited the boy with his parents, Tammy Lynn Kidder, 21, and Eric Van Webb Shumpert, 20, on Jan. 15.

On Jan. 30, Holder removed himself from the case. Having seen the boy in the hospital the day before, he explained, there was no way he could remain fair and impartial.

The parents lost custody of the child after he suffered a broken leg in 1994. Authorities investigating the latest abuse have upgraded criminal charges against each parent to include willful torture as well as aggravated child abuse.

Now the little boy and his 6-month-old brother have been placed with a foster family who cared for them before. Authorities say the children are doing well and there has been tremendous public support for the toddler, who begged for "hugs" from detectives at the hospital where authorities photographed his injuries.

Kidder and Shumpert had been required to attend parenting classes while the boy lived with a foster family, and were allowed visitation while trying to regain full custody.

An attorney with the state's Department of Children and Families advised Holder he should restore custody to Kidder and Shumpert. The foster mother opposed the move, however, and the guardian said the child would not be safe.

Authorities believe the abuse resumed two days after the boy returned home. According to Tampa Police Detective John Yaratch, the parents often turned on the child when they were fighting, sometimes trying to one-up each other by inflicting a worse injury.

Whatever else these people are, they are not candidates for "parenting classes."